I’m still uncomfortable with their serpentine natures and how easily they jump from team to team, but they’re not answering the only question I have. “Why did Anderson get involved?”
Melina’s eyes light up. She grabs my arm, like this morsel is too delicious and she can’t stand it. “Oh my God, they’re fucking. Did you not know?”
“Jesus, Melina, you don’t have to be so crass,” Angelina tells her. Her gaze flits to me. “But yeah, they’re totally doing it. It started because she was so mad about you sleeping with her boyfriend, she decided to do the same thing to you, but then it didn’t really work because… I mean, when you can have Hunter Maxwell, honestly, who cares what your exes are up to?”
“He wasn’t your ex yet, though,” Melina says quickly, searching my face for any sign that I might be upset. “The first time she blew him was after her party. It was her idea to get you two back together. He didn’t even want to date you, she made him do it.”
Angelina nudges her friend, eyes widening at her overstep. “Tone it down, Melina. God.” Looking back at me, she says, “Sorry, Riles. That was an ugly way to tell you. Melina needs to learn to check her gleeful schadenfreude.”
Gleeful schadenfreude is redundant. Schadenfreude is, by its very definition, gleeful. And rooted in low self-esteem. No wonder Sherlock doesn’t like her. Melina should probably talk to somebody about her issues. Not for Sherlock’s benefit, but so she can be a happier person.
Wait, why is that what I’m focusing on?
My tummy feels a little rocky. My chest feels a little tight, but I’m not entirely sure why. It’s not like I have any feelings left for Anderson, but I can’t deny it’s a bit humiliating to hear.
And I didn’t even suspect anything. I knew we weren’t talking much after we got back together, but I can’t believe…
“I guess that means she cheated on you, too, huh?” Melina poses, frowning at Hunter.
He’s not fazed by this news at all, but he is watching me to see if I am.
I’m thrown by it, I’m not gonna lie.
Once the shock subsides, though, I can’t say I care all that much. If anything, I find it kinda sad that Valerie was so hellbent on revenge, she fucked someone she probably didn’t even like just to try to hurt me.
I also think it’s a touch poetic that Hunter didn’t even have to take her down. She did it to herself.
It’s hard to imagine her rebounding from this when Melina and Angelina have decided to frame it this way. People are viewing what she did with ridicule, and that might be the final blow to her popular status.
She should’ve just let it go.
Melina and Angelina keep gossiping, but Hunter grabs me and hauls me away.
“Are you all right?” he asks.
I glance up at him. “Yeah. Why wouldn’t I be?”
“The Anderson stuff…”
I shrug. “It’s gross, but I don’t care. It’s his business who he bangs. I did get suspicious that he was attracted to her at homecoming, but…” I look up at him, smiling faintly. “It only really bothers me to think that you are.”
“I’m not,” he says firmly, stopping me and grabbing my arm so he can pull me close. “You know that, right?”
I look up at him and nod. “Yeah, I know that.”
“Good.” He bends to kiss me. “You’re the only woman in the world as far as I’m concerned.”
I try to smile, but I know it’s not very bright. “Now I’m wondering if I ever kissed him after she did and thinking maybe I should just cut my lips off and try to grow new ones.”
Hunter smirks, grazing the sensitive seam of my lips with his blunt fingertip. “Gonna have to overrule you there. I love these lips.”
“I guess it doesn’t matter if he did or not,” I mutter, dropping his gaze. “It’s not like I haven’t kissed lips that have touched hers. I’ve kissed you.”
His brow furrows. I see it out of the corner of my eyes, but I don’t look up at him.
Dammit.
It’s like the ghost of Valerie Johnson is always lurking in the shadows, waiting for an opportunity to pop up and haunt me.
“Hey,” he says, catching me under the chin and trying to force my gaze back to his.
I still don’t look at him. “I shouldn’t have said that,” I say, not really wanting to talk about it.
“It’s what you were thinking. I don’t want you to hold back what you’re thinking. I just… wish you weren’t thinking that.”
“I wish I didn’t have a reason to.” I finally let my gaze flicker to his, but I regret it when I see the guilty look on his face. It feels like a knife to the gut.
I don’t want to keep making him feel bad, I really don’t.
I know he feels bad for what he did. I know he can’t change it. I wish I knew how to stop digging up the grave, but… maybe I don’t. Maybe I can’t.
I told him I’d never let it go. I knew it was beyond my capabilities, that’s why I warned him.
Not her.
Sighing heavily, I look up at him. “Do we really have to stay at this dance until it’s over?”
His dark gaze is much dimmer now as he shakes his head. “No,” he says softly. “We can leave if you want to.”
I feel even worse making him leave, but now I’m so caught up in frustration and disappointment… I really just want to go home.
Hunter calls the car a little early.
Once we’re inside, I ask him, “Can you take me to my house instead of yours?”
He frowns. “I thought you were spending the night.”
I don’t want to.
I know I can’t say no if he forces the issue, but I also know he won’t really make me do something I don’t want to do. I call our arrangement a game for a reason. It’s a loophole he found that we can live in, not a real prison.
“I’d like to go home,” I tell him, my tone faintly apologetic.
His mouth turns down a bit grimly, but he nods and gives the driver my address.
“I’m sorry,” I say, placing my hand over his on the seat.
He moves his hand, but only so he can wrap his arm around my shoulders. He pulls me into him and kisses my forehead. “You don’t have to be sorry.”
“This isn’t how I wanted this night to go.”
“It’s not a big deal,” he assures me, turning over my hand on my lap so my palm is facing up. Lightly dragging his fingertips down the center of my palm, he lights up my nerve endings, leaving me a little breathless. “I didn’t really want to spend tonight alone, but if that’s what you need…”
My heart contracts. He knew it would. I look over at him, narrowing my eyes. “I know what you’re doing.”
Feigning innocence, he continues with that featherlight touch, enslaving my body and tempting it to turn on me. “What? Telling my beautiful girlfriend how much I’ll miss her company tonight?”
“My mom’s right,” I mutter, letting my eyes fall shut. “You are a manipulator.”
He leans close, gently touching his perfect lips to the shell of my ear and sending a whole new wave of shivers dancing down my spine. “I have an idea.”